General Information

MCUC

This newsletter is published monthly for distribution to members of the
Memphis Commodore Users Club. It is in no way connected with the Commodore
Business Machine Ltd. or Commodore Inc. and Commodore products (CBM, PET,
C64, C128, VIC20, Amiga) are registered trademarks of Commodore Inc. The
MCUC is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is the free exchange of
information & knowledge about the use of Commodore computer systems.
Memberships are open to anyone; ownership of a computer is not required.
Monthly meetings are open to the public & visitors are welcome.

Dues are broken down into three categories. Membership dues may be paid
quarterly (3 months) at $6.00 or annually at $20.00. An associate
membership is offered for those living outside a 45 mile radius of Memphis
at $10 per year. All memberships are Family Memberships. Dues are not
refundable.

Contribution to the MCUC magazine may be in any word processor. You may
submit articles on disk, or a hardcopy, or upload to the MCUC BBS
(362-0632). Other User Groups are welcome to reprint material from this
magazine; we ask only that you give credit to the author and source.

The editor reserves the right to reject material submitted relating to
illegal services, products or unethical practices. All material submitted
becomes the property of MCUC. The 12th of each month is the DEADLINE FOR
ARTICLES.

Meetings

General Membership Meeting - First Tuesday of each month, 7:00 PM in
the new building Auditorium, State Technical Institute.

Beginner's Class - First Saturday after the first Tuesday. 1:00 PM
Location to be announced each month.

Board of Director's Meeting - Monday after General Meeting. 7:30 PM
State Tech, Rm 1106A in new building (near cafeteria).

128,CP/M,MS-DOS Sig Classes - Now meeting with the Memphis FOG group
and Home Users Group. 4th Tuesday of each month at the Whitestation
Library. Copy Session at 6 PM, Meeting starts as 7:00 PM.

Officers

President

Bob Nunn
759-0461

Vice President

Bob Earnheart
385-7987

Secretary

Dick Coffman
829-3705

Treasurer

Wayne Moore
756-5991

Librarian

Jim West
366-5544

Education

Ron Montgomery
767-0737

Newsletter

Cheryl Nunn
795-0461

BBS

362-0632

Sysop

Andrew George

367-1266

Co-Sysop

Kevin Dunn

357-0409

Advertising Rates

Full Page

$20.00

1/2 Page

$11.00

1/4 Page

$7.50

1/8 Page

$3.00

Business Card

$3.00

Classified to Members FREE
All ads must be in by the 12th.
CIRCULATION: 300 copies

President's Ponderings

Things on My Mind

by Bob Nunn

I'm not sure really where to start. It's close to election time. We will
be having nominations in December. I want to make it official that this is
my last term of office. I want everyone to know that it has been a great
experience for me and to thank each of you for the opportunity to serve you
as President of the best computer club in Memphis.

I feel good about the accomplishments made during these two terms of
office and hope you do too. It is time for someone else though to take up the
reigns and lead on. What things are yet to be done in your mind? These are
the things you need to make known to the new leadership if you are to have a
productive club in the future.

THE FUTURE OF THE 64/128

I have mixed feelings about what is happening in the 64/128 community. I
am excited and elated at the new hardware coming available. Who would have
thought, a hi res hand scanner at an affordable price? An affordable ram
drive with its own built in dos! Would you have ever considered a 16 megabyte
ram interface hooked parallel to a 200 megabyte hard drive tied to 64? Or
using a 9600 baud modem? How about 6 voices and stereo sound? Video capture
in real time?

Yes, you can do all these things and a lot more with your 64 or 128. If
your system does what you need it to do, I want to encourage you to stick
with it. There is no need to upgrade if it is serving its purpose. If you
feel that you have explored all areas and still have needs unfulfilled then
do us all a favor and give club information to the poeple you sell your
equipment to; perhaps they will need our assistance.

There are other clubs out there that meet regularly. The PC group uses the
State Tech facilities regularly, as well as the Amiga, the Apple, and the
Atari group, and hopefully you will find the type of support you need.

This issue it dedicated to the new hardware manufacturers. They are the
ones investing their time, resouces and energies to supporting the 64 and the
128. It seems that there are more than a few things left that you can do with
your 64/128 computer.

Compute's Gazette Shoots Foot

An editorial by Bob Nunn, President MCUC.

I am not sure how you feel but being a long time subscriber I was very
unhappy with the new magazine. I just got my second issue and while the review
of the CMD Drive was very thorough and interesting to anyone who hadn't
already read about it in RUN, I didn't see much else of interest. In fact, I
had quite a time just trying to find the 64/128 stuff in there at all. I wrote
for a refund and they refused, but I saw people getting refund information at
the World of Commodore. Not only 64/128 users but Amiga users as well. I can
only suppose the Amiga version is about the same. All gloss and no meat, what
a waste. Now they have a magazine that appeals to no one.

Call and ask for a refund and order RUN. Computes editorial office number
is 919-275-9809, call and tell them what you thnk about the new Gazette.
Better yet, when and if you order merchandise from any of the companies we
listed as sources be sure to include a comment about the new Gazette.

Note from the Editor

Welcome to our annual Commodore Gift Guide issue. This is our third year to
bring you the best, most concise information on what's available and at what
price. I hope you find this information useful in making out your Christmas
wish list. Just think of this issue as your Commodore Yellow Pages.

This is an exciting year for Commodore 64/128 owners. 1990 has seen the
introduction of both hardware and software that are literally forging new
frontiers. With some of the new products available or being preliminarily
introduced, your 64/128 can now have the speed, memory capacity, resolution,
sound and other capabilities of the more expensive "big boys".

Some of the products I refer to include the CMD Hard Drive, Ram Link and
Ram Disk, Dr. Evil's improved Sid Cartidge, the Turbo Master CPU, and
HandyScanner 64. The software section includes I-Paint, Masterpiece Designs,
and Maverick, all of which take advantage of the 64K video RAM of the 1280 (or
your upgraded 128). For graphics, the 64K video RAM offers resolutions up to
640x400, comparable to resolution found on the Amiga.

Look for more detailed information regarding some of the above products
elsewhere in this issue. Also look for the list of mail order companies that
carry goodies for your 64/128. We've tried to give reliability information,
where available. Next month we'll try to give a more in-depth look at the
software. Now, let your fingers do the walking!

Treasurer's Report

TREASURER'S REPORT 1O-12-90

OPENING BALANCE 09-10-90

$ 313.66

DEPOSITS:

LIBRARY DISK SALES

$ 330.30

MEMBERSHIP DUES (13 Members)

240.00

WRITE STUFF SALES

30.00

NOTEBOOK SALES

46.00

POSTAGE

4.00

--------

TOTAL

$ 650.30

EXPENSES:

BBS TELEPHONE (SEPT.)

$ 20.65

NEWSLETTER (SEPT.)

131.24

POSTAGE

5.70

BLANK DISKS (5.25)

84.00

LIBRARY SUPPLIES

24.70

-------

TOTAL

$ 266.29

CLOSING BALANCE 10-12-90

$ 697.67

WAYNE MOORE TREASURER

Secretary's Notes

Secretary Notes 10/90

The official board meeting was called to order at 7:35 PM by Bob Nunn,
President.

Nominating Committee Report

Thomas reported that at their first meeting, they discussed the
information about people willing to serve that had been passed on to the
committee from various sources. The committee will continue to seek people
willing to serve next year.

To help the nominating committee, we are enclosing a form that you can
photocopy (you wouldn't want to cut up your newsletter would you?) and turn
in to anyone on the committee with your suggestion.

-------------------------------------
I would like to see ________________
nominated for the office of
_________________________________.
-------------------------------------

November Meeting Demo
Hardware for Christmas

Great Gift Ideas for Christmas 1990

by Bob Nunn

C128D Computer

Well this one has been dropped by Commodore for over a year now but the
good news is that it's available brand new from Software Hut for ONLY $319.95!
or as a refurb for only $289.00! Special Features of the 128D is that it is
really 3 computers in 1! It has a buit in 64, 128 mode and C/PM all in one
system. The 128D also features a full 64K video chip over the 16K in the
regular 128. Only a few programs take advantage of this feature but it is
worthwhile if you plan to use any of those that do. Maverick V3.0 through 5.0
uses the extra ram to make copying a bit faster in 64 mode. I also know the
BASIC 9, SKETCHPAD 128, and NEWSMAKER 128 all from Free Spirit Software use
the extra ram, and there are more reaching the market regularly. It also has a
built in 1571 drive. The 71 is no longer available also but has the almost
unique ability to read other formats, especially useful if you use an IBM or
compatible elsewhere. Programs like Big Blue reader allow you to convert
files. New price was around $459.00, used price for one in prime condition
$250. Make sure that the built in 1571 works perfectly on both sides of the
disk!

64C Computer

The venerable, semi-immortal 64C is still out there and humming along. As
long as Commodore continues to sell 1 million a year they say they will keep
making it. What can I say about a small computer that is already a legend. New
on sale $139 used 64C in prime condition $75.

1541-II Drive

The old basic drive that got us all started is now in this sleek new
package. Besides the smaller footprint and better looks, this one's power
supply is separate to keep out the heat. Still as slow as ever. New price
$160, good used $125. One thing to check when buying used, is head alignment.
Take a program disk with you and check to see if it loads ok before buying.
Remember a good alignment is $35.00, although you can get bad alignment jobs
for half that. Take that much off the price if you suspect alignment problems
or at least take that amount into consideration when buying used. It wouldn't
hurt to have it cleaned and aligned anyways.

1581 Drive

This 3.5 inch disk drive is the one to have if you are adding on. It holds
over 800k of data! which is roughly equal to 4 3/4 of the old 5 1/4" disks.
It's faster and quieter than the old 41. If you have a 128 it supports the
burst mode or if you have Jiffy Dos then this one flies in all modes! New
price $129 through Software Hut and $110 refurbed, good used $100-120. Same
alignment notes as above. Some of the early 1581's had problems and had a
WD1770 controller and a buggy rom. Do not buy one of these drives. To check
you can download a diagnostic program from most local bbs's that identify the
controller and rom. In either case I strongly suggest you install a Jiffy Dos
rom as they have corrected many other minor bugs. Even with these minor
problems these are excellent drives and well worth owning as a second
drive.

Other Disk Drives

Excelerator + and a few others like Blue Chip are out there and will save
you around $25 - $35 dollars over a Commodore drive. They are not always
compatible and are not near as long lasting or reliable. They would be ok for
a second drive. Price new around $150, used $75?? (they are usually junk in
less than a year of hard use.)

1670 Modem

This official Commodore modem is becoming a bit dated as it only runs at
1200 baud. This is a good starter modem and is ready to plug in. Price new
$75, good used $20-35. If it works then it's ok. The earlier version which
only has 3 dip switches has the annoying habit of answering the phone. The
newer version has 5 dips and is a bit better.

Minimodem

Minimodem C24

This 2400 baud modem at $79.95 plugs right in and is the best buy in my
book. Tenex offers this one. Call 1-800-PROMPT-1 and get your order in
early. No used modems this fast this cheap! They also offer a 1200 at $60
but why would you want to?

Other Modems

Check with other people who have tried out other brands of HAYES compatible
2400's before buying. Remember you have to buy an interface so add that to
your price. Modems that take an interface for a Commodore however will plug
right up to an IBM or AMIGA so keep that in mind especially if you plan to
upgrade in the future. Never buy an Anchor Modem of any type! They are not
compatible with most available software and are nothing but trouble at any
price.

Faster Modems

With the advent of Dr. Evil's fast serial device it is well within the
realm of possibilities to see a few Commodore 64 BBS's at 9600 baud. The
price is substantially down and I know for a fact of one BBS software
developer that is developing support for 9600! Computer Direct has a 9600
baud modem for around $500 call 1-800-BUYWISE and check for exact pricing and
availability. See the article on Dr Evil for more information about their
products.

1351 Mouse

Anyone who uses GEOS regularly needs a mouse. This is the perfect gift
for anyone who doesn't have one and does use GEOS. They are somewhat hard to
find but worth looking for. Price around $33 new. No used market.

Other Mice

I own the M3 Mouse and while it is supposed to be as good as the 1351 I
will trade you anytime. It sells new for less than $40 and is readily
available. Do not buy the 1350 Mouse: it is really more like a joystick and
requires a mouse pad the size of a card table.

1802 Monitor

For a 64 owner this one is perfect. It has Magnavox guts and has a good
reputation. Price new $200 (Tenex Price), used $150. Remember that it
doesn't have an RGB mode that can be used with the 128 for 80 column with an
AMIGA.

1084 Monitor

Has RGB mode as well as regular composite hookup. This allows you to use
it on AMIGA's as well as 128's and 64's. This one has a good reputation also
and it contains Magnavox guts. New price $320.00, good used $175+.

1084s Monitor

Same as above but also has stereo sound output. You will find this helpful
with your stereo output Amiga or if you have added a stereo sid cartridge to
your 64 or 128. Price $320+, no used market.

Other Monitors

Magnavox makes most of Commodores Monitors so they are a good buy and can
be found at discounters at better prices. Remember that you will have to buy
the cables to hook up your equipment though and they can be hard to find.

Printers

Star Micronics NX1000 Multifont II

This one is the replacement for the regular NX1000. We use the older one to
produce this newsletter. It produces a high quality print with new ribbons.
If you are a heavy print producer, buy a re-inker as the ribbons are fairly
expensive. The new model features 180 cps print speed and Multiple Fonts.
Price less interface $180, no used market. It is also available in a
compatible form that requie no interface for about 5 bucks more. (Don't do
this you'll regret it, the resolution on graphics is poor) and a color version
that prints in color called the NX1000 Rainbow and it comes in a "C" version
also. It is priced around $240. A special dirver for the color printer is
available for GEOS making this color printer one of the more useful ones. The
Soft Group also has a cartridge available that allows you to dump the screen
in full color to this model.

Panasonic KX-P1180

Comes with a full 2 year warranty and has a speed of 192 cps! Its near
letter quality speed is 38 cps. It has multifont capabilities and this one
looks like one of the better buys this year. The ribbons on this one though
are about twice as expensive as the NX.

Other Printers

There are tons of printers on the market. Stay away from Okimate Color
printers and any thermal type printer. They use expensive paper and the print
heads wear out. I don't know about the ribbons but there are only a few
programs that support color printing.

Panasonic and Star Micronics make good printers, including new 24 wire head
printers that allow graphics up to 320 x 320 dots per inch resolution! Both
companies also produce Laser Printers if you got the change; they will hook up
with a good interface. GEOS v2.0 supports the laser as well as the Write
Stuff. Seems kind of silly hooking a $1800 dollar printer up to a $120 dollar
computer but if you want typeset quality it is available.

Hewlett Packard Deskjets are coing down in price and offer the same
resolution as a laser for under $600. We proposed and the club approved the
purchase of one for use on the newsletter but we have cancelled that purchase
due to lack of funds. GEOS has a driver for it and i am positive that a little
modification to the printer drivers using the built in customizer in the Write
Stuff will allow this printer to be fully utilized.

Great Gifts!

(For the hacker in your life!)

By Bob Nunn

About Great Gifts... Most of the prices and items that are listed in this
article are from various mail order houses such as TENEX, Computer Direct,
and ads found in magazines such as Compute's Gazette, and Run Magazine. I
make no recommendations for these mail order houses or magazines and suggest
that you use caution and good sense in dealing with anyone. Local
distributors of these items may be somewhat higher but they will be there if
you have a problem with the goods. Discounters like Target, Service
Merchandise, Sears, Walmart, and Kmart all stock some computer items. Lately,
many wholesale office supplies and wholesale clubs are proving to be a good
source of many items. Many other business's like Babbages, Software Etc. and
Data Tech Services (Earnheart) are a good source for hardware and software.
Shopping for price is good for many items, but service is another
consideration especially when buying hardware.

GREAT GIFTS LESS THAN $20

Printer Stands

$8 to $20

Disk Notchers

$3 to $7

Disk Cases

$5 to $20

Drive Cleaners

$5 to $8

Paper Catcher

$12 & Up

Printer Paper

$7 to $20

Surge Protector

$5 to $18

Blank Disks

$5 to $10

Equip Covers

$6 to $20

Books

$3 to $20

Slimline Case

$20

Mouse Holder

$7

Mouse Pad

$5 to $9

Wico Joystick

$18

Icontroller

$18

GREAT GIFTS $25 TO $200

1351 Mouse

$33

M3 Mouse

$41

Freedom Stick

$53

PC Took Kit

$25

SuperSnapshot

$65

Heavy Duty Power

$25 to $50

Suncom Station

$60

Stereo Sid Cart

$40

SwiftLink-232

$30

TurboMaster 4 mhz

$200

Video Digitizer

$80

Explode v5 Cart

$45

Midi 64 Interface

$50

Digi Sound Sampler

$90

Quick Brown Box

$70 to $130

CMD Ram Link

Starts $150

CMD Ram Drive 512k

$150

CMD Jiffy DOS V6.0

$60 and up

Run Mag Subscription

$22.97/yr.

geoWorld Sub.

$20.00/yr.

Beginner's Class
November 10th
1 PM
Parkway Village
Library

Where do you get the Stuff?

In the following list, we've tried to give you some basic information on
the leading mail order houses. We cannot guarantee reliability, as not all
mail order houses have been used by the Nunn's. Use good sense when ordering
mail order, as always. MCUC is not responsible for any problems incurred in
dealing with these companies.

Products: Public Domain, Shareware, and Copyrighted
Software House. $.75 per disk, minimum 10 disk order. Send $2.00 for catalog.
One of their special products is Masterpiece Designs, a collection of 141
hi-res screens packed with borders, objects, patterns, symbols and designs
for use in desktop publishing.

Terms: Check/Money Orders

Reliability: N/A

Dr. Evil Laboratories
PO Box 3432
Redmond, WA 98073-3432

Products: Sid Cartridge, SwiftLink-232

Terms: Check/Money Order-allow 4-6 weeks for delivery

Reliability: High

Lyco Computer
PO Box 5088
Jersey Shore, PA 17740
1-800-233-8760

Products: Hardware/Software

Terms: VISA, MC, AE, Discover

Reliability: N/A

Comm-Plex Software
6782 Junction Rd
Pavilion, NY 14525-9755

Product: GEOWIZARD

Terms: check/MO

Reliability: N/A

P & P Graphics
151 Randolph Street
Canton, MA 02021
1-617-828-1681

Service: graphic/text conversions

Cost $3.00 for first page.
$1.50 each additional page

Service: image scanning

Cost $5.00 for first page
$1.50 each additional page

Free Spirit Software
58 Noble St
Kutztown, PA 19530
1-800-638-5757

Products: Software

Terms: VISA/MC

Reliability: High

The Soft Group
PO Box 111
Montgomery, IL 60538
708-851-6667

Products: The Money Machine, hardware and software that
lets you digitize pictures and transfer to paper or a T-shirt. Just like
you've seen at the fair! They also carry the Videobyte II cartridge.

RUN is the only dedicated 64/128 magazine still on the market. They are
available locally at Brentano's Book Store.

Twin Cities 128
PO Box 11578
Minneapolis, MN 55411

128 only magazine

Subscription Rate: $12.00/6 issues

GEOWORLD
38 Santa Ynez St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93103

Products: magazine about GEOS

Terms: check/money order

Subscription Rate: 12 Issues $20.00

Call MCUC BBS
901-362-0632
24 Hr. 2400 Baud

November Disks of the Month

We have four disks of the month for November. Also, we will have the
October disks available for exchange. We have found that many of the copies
may not be good, with errors on the disks. If you have a bad disk, just bring
it to the November meeting and we will be happy to exchange it for you.

Remember, the holidays are coming with the inevitable visits from
relatives. Some of the disks this month are ideal for having around to help
entertain after those big meals.

Desterm 128

Desterm is a 128 80-col. term program. It supports Punter, X-modem, Y-modem
and other protocols, supports ANSII graphics (MS-DOS) plus Commodore graphics,
and has several terminal emulation modes, including VT-100. The documentation
is very extensive and well worth reading. If you have need for a
term program that is usable for calling any type of computer, from another
Commodore to the main frame at work, this is the one!

Classical Sid

The Classical Sid disk features StereoPlayer V8.0 and some of the best sid
classical renditions I've heard. I sampled a half dozen and every one of them
was very well done.

C-128 Miscellaneous

The 128 Miscellaneous disk features several lotto programs, a 40-col.
Solitaire, a grocery and general shopping list maker and a 80-col. disk track
and sector checker

October GEOS Utilities

MacAttack II will convert pictures both ways between MacPaint and GeoPaint.
Hulme View lets you view seq. files without conversion to GEOS. Music Box
lets you record your own music. Be sure and pick this one up at the November
meeting. We made sure we got it right this time. Sorry for any
inconveniences.

The World of Commodore, Philadelphia

New Products

by Bob Nunn

Well guess who didn't show up? You got it. Commodore pulled out at the last
minute along with all their entrourage. Did it matter? Heck no, this is 64/128
Country! Agima Support was all around but the 64/128 crowd was there in force!
Rumor has it that the 64/128 group were out in force and that Commodore wasn't
going to support this show. Commodore supposedely also asked many of the
vendors not to attend as well as featured speakers. Keep it up, stupid.

Compute had a booth there. I feel sorry for the skinny kid staffing the
booth. Not only were the 64/128 people ticked, the Amiga people were not happy
either. I saw one guy that I thought was going to hit him. He kept talking
about all the liquor ads and how he didn't buy magazines with liquor ads.
Computes editorial office number is 919-275-9809, call and tell them whay you
think about the new Gazette.

While at World of Commodore in Philadelphia I ran onto many new exciting
products. I didn't personally get to try all of these but was impressed by
many. Hopefully this article will provide you with a bit more information
about them.

Creative Micro Designs (CMD)

These are the Jiffy Dos people and they had the busiest booth of the whole
show! They intorduced at this show the RAMLINK, RAMDRIVE and also displayed
their new add on drives. We ran the preliminary spec sheets last month so I
won't go into detail. I have a RAMLINK on order and will show this off at the
first meeting after I get it. I didn't include any information on RAM
EXPANSIONS in this issue because these people offer one that comes with an
operating system making it fully usable by more software! The pricing is at or
below all other ram expanders!

The CMD people were also selling tons of their hard drives. They have added
to there line a cable to make the Lt. Kernal drives usuable as an add on drive.
I read a review by a guy who compared his Lt Kernal to a CMD drive. He says
that the Lt Kernal is much faster. Well the Ram Link adds parallel speed now.
The main thing though is what good is speed when the program you want to use
won't work with the Lt. Kernal. I use GEOS with my CMD; how fast is your Lt
Kernal with GEOS?? I use many other unbroken, protected programs; do any work
with the Kernal?

Dr. Evil Laboratories

They had a new imporved Stereo Sid Cartridge (I won one in the drawing!)
The main difference is that the new one doesn't require batteries and works
off the computer's power source. The SWIFTLINK-232 ties into your cartridge
port and drives your modem. This one supports baud rates up to 38,400! It
comes with several 64/128 terms that have been modified to work, and more are
being converted. Several BBS authors are working on BBS program versions to
use the SwiftLink!

Rio Computers

I got to look at one of their scanners although they were not present. The
HANDYSCANNER 64 scans at up to 400 dpi and sells for $299.95. They also offer
a software package for Home Desktop Publishing that has a graphics editor
capable of storing 640 x 800 points.

The Soft Group

These folks are famous for their EXPLODE CARTRIDGE and the new VIDEOBYTE
II. They now produce an item called the MONEY MACHINE; it comes in two
versions a basic one for $99.95 and a deluxe version for $199.95. The Money
Machine allows you to make the picture t-shirts like you see in the malls!

Briwall

The Briwall booth was as packed as the CMD booth. I don't remember really
getting too close to the booth. They offer both hardware accessories and
software and are a good company to deal with. They continue to support the
64/128 market and offer more productivity software than any other company I
have seen. They put out a newsletter catalog that is worth sending for.

The Software Hut

These folks were selling new and refurbed Commodore Hardware as fast as
they could unload it. New 1581s for only $129!! New 128Ds for only $319.00!
We have included information in this issue on products offered and
prices.

Parsec

They write, collect and produce public domain and shareware software
programs. Their catalog and disk collections are impressive. You will want
to send for their catalog disk!

Comm-Plex Software

I met Peter and Paul, twins, at the show. They demonstrated a program
called GEOWIZARD that is the ultimate utility for GEOS users. It allows up to
3 drive support, full REU use, and lets you pop out of one application into
another without quitting to the desktop. This is handy, for example, if you
are writing an article in geoWrite, pop out to geoPaint to cut a graphic, and
back into geoWrite to past the graphic into your text. Allows up to 2 meg of
RAM and lets you configure it as more than one 1581. Peter and Paul offer a
graphic conversion service. For a reasonable fee, they will convert graphics
to and from geoPaint, Amiga IFF, or MacPaint.

ONE FINAL NOTE:

I met a lot of nice folks at the World Of Commodore and exchanged
newsletters, cards and more. We have already started to hear from many of
these groups. I finally got to meet Ken Crosby with the User Group in Central
Ohio. Ken had told me about a project to install a 1581 in his 128D on the
phone some time back. He pulled this out of his trunk and showed us the
sweetest little installation you can imagine. His 128DX is one sharp machine
and lets hope he remembers to send me some photos so we can get a few pictures
and diagrams in our newsletter. PS Ken, thanks for the ride back to the
hotel; you saved us quite a walk!

Is this a good year for Commodore users or what??

Christmas Party
December 8th
Watch the December newsletter
for further details.

Great Gift Ideas, Amiga!

by Bob Nunn

Some of you may be considering purchasing a faster, flashier computer and
the Amiga is certainly one to consider. It has many great features and with
some additional cards and aftermarket equipment can run MS-DOS and even MAC
software!

I considered for a time not running this article, this being a 64/128
support magazine. I feel that since the 128D is no longer, though still
available, that upgrading for anyone would be limited and many of our club
members and ex club members already own an Amiga and that some would be
considering the purchase of one. If you aren't interested in Amigas then skip
this one. One other consideration... you are taking advice from a person who
does not own an Amiga so please take that into consideration. I am fairly well
read in most computer related subjects but may miss some practical advice that
an owner would give you.

AMIGA Computers all include the 3.5 inch drive, are multi-tasking, include
a stereo sound output. The 500 is all but unusable with many software titles
without memory expansion so you may want to consider this when purchasing. One
drive is also a severe limitation since the computer's operating system is on
disk. You therefore would spend most of your time swapping disks. A second
floppy drive is almost a must, and a hard drive of course is preferable.

Amiga 500

AMIGA 500 is the entry level computer in this group. It features 512k of
Ram and is expandable externally to 8 megabytes. It comes with a built in 3.5
inch drive and even includes a mouse.

Amiga 2000

AMIGA 2000 includes one full megabyte of Ram, expandable to 9 megabytes and
has a slot for an additional 3.5 inch drive or a hard drive. This one is the
one that you can plug a card into and add a drive to make it MS-DOS
compatible.

Amiga 2500

AMIGA 2500 also includes a 40 megabyte hard drive and comes with 3 megabyte
of onboard Ram. (expandable to 9) This one includes a clock calendar with
battery backup.

AMIGA 3000?? is supposedly available now but I have not seen one and don't
know what the features are. It is supposed to be a lot faster which means
it's likely to be a lot more expensive.

WHAT CAN I USE FROM MY 64/128? is a good question to ask. If you own an
RGB/composite monitor for your 128 you are in luck. It should be completely
compatible. If you own a composite monitor you can use it to some extent but
will not see the high resolution this computer really is famous for. If you
are using a TV then you will need an interface that allows regular rf output
to come from the Amiga but again no high res. Of course none of your disk
drives are usable, however joystick will make the crossover. If your modem is
the type that requires an interface, then you are in luck again. It may
require a new cable but your non-Commodore compatible modem will work just
fine. If you own a Commodore compatible printer I have heard that a company
now makes an adapter to allow you to use it on the Amiga, so you may want to
look into this. You can consider selling off your 64 and 128 equipment to help
finance the conversion.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS are things like basic software to use with your new
purchase. You may want to do a bit of shopping before taking the plunge. I
have talked to people who leaped before they looked. Sticker shock sometimes
occurs in places other than car lots. There is a decent amount of PD software
out there and some that is very good. But being spoiled by one of the most
supported, lowest priced, software bases and second to none in the PD area in
both quality and quantity, you will likely be taken off guard if you aren't
prepared.

Watching the chess piece that you just took beat the devil out of its
opponent, then consume it and belch, is truly an experience that is equaled
by no other computer, or perhaps running a word processor while you are
downloading from a local bbs; do that on a MAC or IBM compatible. The Amiga
is the one to beat.

Order the November Disks of the
Month by sending your request
along with $2 per disk, $5/3 disks
($1 P&H plus $.25 for each disk
over 3 to:

MCUC
PO Box 34095
Memphis, TN 38134-0095

GEOWIZARD is here!

from QLink reprinted from CCCommunicator Sept 90

The wait is over. GEOWIZARD is now done. The disk includes geoWizard,
MiniDesk (the copy, rename, and scratch file DA, 3 drive and multiple file
support) and geoWizDump (screen dumps from geoWizard to PhotoScrap or geoPaint
in full color).

In case you don't know about geoWizard, it's a little utility that, once
installed, sits in your REU waiting for you to trigger it, then it takes over
the computer and lets you do a screen dump, run a DA, or run an application.
When you're done, you are returned to the original program as if nothing
happened. You can also quit to deskTop to get out of System Error boxes. This
effectively turns most any application into a desk accessory - for instance,
pop out of geoWrite for a few seconds to load geoPaint and cut out a graphic,
then return to geoWrite where you left off, without ever having to use
deskTop. You can use geoWizard almost anywhere, including menus and dialog
boxes.

GeoWizard requires GEOS 64 2.0 or GEOS 128 2.0 and an REU. You can now use
it with any input device. Full 3-drive support is included as well as 40/80
support on GEOS 128. Your REU MUST have at least one 64K bank free after
loading all your applications. This of course depends on how many appliactions
you use at a time.

If you use a Shadowed Dir 1581 (only on Geos 64 2.0), you can disable it to
make room for geoWizard. In my opinion, geoWizard makes better use of the RAM
than the Shadowed Dir 1581 does.

Send check or money order, payable to Jim Collete, to Comm-Plex Software.
[See the company list for complete address). Be sure to specify the GEOWIZARD
disk!

HD Series Hard Drives

Affordable High-Capacity Storage for C64/128

From Artisoft's Bi-Monthly News Disk

Performance:

HD Series Hard Drives are designed to be the fastest mass-storage
peripherals available for the C=64 and C=128. When connected on the serial bus
to a completely stock computer, HD Series drives out perform all other serial
bus drives (including the 1581) by a wide margin. If your computer is equipped
with JiffyDOS, performance in 128 mode is nearly doubled, with performance in
64 mode (or with a C=64) being brought up to the same level. And, when
connected to the parallel port of CMD's RAMLink, HD Series drives become as
fast as the hard drives found on newer, more expensive machines.

Compatibilty:

A specially-designed operating system (DOS) gives HD Series drives the
ability to work with nearly all commercial software. The HD Series DOS fully
supports all Commodore DOS commands, including Block Reads and Writes, Memory
access commands, and Fast Serial 'burst' commands. Special operating modes are
also built in to provide complete compatibility with GEOS and CP/M. Another
feature of the HD Series operating system is that it is stored on the hard
drive itself and not in ROM. This means that DOS upgrades can be installed
quickly and easily without disassembly.

Ease of Use:

The HD Series DOS provides you with the tools to easily organize and access
the large amounts of data you will be storing. Partitions of up to 16 Meg are
supported and can be set aside exclusively for GEOS or CP/M use, if desired.
Subdirectories can be created within partitions and within other
subdirectories. The number and size of subdirectories is limited only by the
available space on the drive. Any directory can be the default, and the path
to a file anywhere on the drive can be specified within a single command. In
addition, files can be easily copied between different partitions and
subdirectories.

Additional Information:

The drive size is only a little longer than a 1581 and it uses a 3 1/2 inch
hard disk. And it's for the C=64 and C=128, also fully supports GEOS and CP/M!
The drive itself can be modified to 100 megs in the single case and up to 4
GIGABYTE's otherwise!! Works just like a 1581 and can be partitioned the same
way, hooks to the serial port so you can still piggyback other drives, use's a
parallel interface through RAMLink (more on RAMLink later) that speeds the
drive up considerably, fully supports JiffyDOS, so if you have JiffyDOS in
your computer you will have that speed added to the drive. It also can be
interfaced with Amiga, IBM-compatible and Macintosh computers in case you plan
upgrade in the future you can still use the hard drive..

The Floppy Experiment

excerpted from ?Syntax Error, Aug. 1990

Written by Alma Peterson, Condensed by Cheryn Nunn

[Alma Peterson is the Dayton Area Commodore User's Group C-64 Librarian.
She carries between 1000 to 1500 disks in her car trunk to and from meetings,
hot weather and cold. She got to wondering just how much punishment a disk
would take and ran a few experiments.]

The experiment started out rather small, simple, and to the point, but then
I got a little carried away. Using a disk with data on both sides, I quickly
made up 2 "experimental" copies of the disk, marking one "sun" and the other
"freeze". That's when the abusive side of me took over. Happily cackeling to
myself, I cranked out another called "stomp", then one called "kool-aid", and
finally, one called "micro-wave".

My first victim was the "sun" disk. I threw it out the back door into
fullblazing sunlight, 91 degrees for two hours. The "freeze" got popped into
my handy kitchen freezer and promptly forgotten. Two hours later, the "sun"
disk still worked perfectly. I thought maybe the black vinyl jacket was
enough of a shield to keep the sun's rays from doing any damage, so I took
the jacket apart and put the actual floppy outside for another couple of
hours. When I brought it back in, I realized I couldn't test it without a
jacket. I took a "dead" disk, carefully opened the jacket and inserted the
"sun" floppy. Both sides STILL worked perfectly. As it was too late in the
day for any more sun, I threw the disk in the clothes dryer. Half an hour
later, it came out looking kinda deformed, so I flattened it out with a
rolling pin while still warm. AGAIN, the disk worked just fine.

It was getting hard to continue with enthusiasm since I wasn't getting the
expected results. My husband came in to fix some microwave popcorn, and
found my "freeze" disk. I thawed it overnite, and the next day it worked
perfectly.

Finally, in a last effort to prove the heat-in-the-car-scrambles-disks
rumor, I set the "sun" disk on the dashboard of my car and left it closed up
tight all day long. After about an hour, that disk had curled up into the
shape of a cereal bowl. By the end of the day, it was barely recognizable.
The vinyl jacket had swollen and bubbled up from the intense heat. There was
no way it could be coaxed back into enough shape to put in the drive, so the
floppy inside HAD to be ruined. I sacrificed another disk for the jacket,
inserted the "sun" floppy, put it in the drive and...It worked perfectly!

EPILOGUE: Both sides of the disk called "microwave" were totally zapped in
less than 30 seconds. When reformatted, however, the disk worked perfectly.
The "stomp" disk hasn't been tried yet, and I'm going to change the "kool-aid"
to "coke". I think the acid content of the beverage may have some more
interesting results than plain old sugar-water. Stay tuned next month for the
gory details; and another report on the "sun" floppy, which, in it's shiny new
sliced-open jacket, has been renamed to "boil in saucepan on kitchen stove as
long as it takes"...wish me luck!

[It may be interesting to note that in all her attempts to ruin a floppy,
what usually got ruined was the label, remarks about which were condensed out
of above version of her article.]

Ham Fest

by Bob Nunn

What about Ham Fest 90? If you were there then you know. It wasn't as
big as '89 and there was a bit less stuff for the 64/128 user than previous
years. There were some bargains though. I bought a 1200 baud 1670 for $10
and a 300 for $5. One guy was selling his software out in the box and we
bought a few titles. There were plenty of pd selections available.

MCUC was there in force. We had 3 tables this year and signed up quite a
few new members as well as visited with a few old members. We also sold our
special selection of disks which will also be available at the November
Meeting!

Many thanks to Jim West, John Blackmer, Pete Norton, and Ron Montgomery
who all brought out systems. Thanks also to Teresa Ralls, Kevin Dunn, Dick
Coffman, and Wayne Moore for covering during breaks and lunch, allowing us to
do a bit of shopping while we were there.

All in all a huge success for MCUC as it let us contact many 64/128 owners
and will undoubtedly bear fruit for the club for some time.

Through a special purchase from Commodore Business Machines, we have a
number of products at great pricing. Below is a list of products:

Commodore 128D Computer (new)

$319.95

Commodore 128D Computer (refurbished)

289.95

Commodore 64C Computer (new)

139.95

Commodore 1541 II Drive (new)

159.95

Commodore 1700 RAM Expansion 128K (new)

64.95

Commodore 1750 RAM Expansion 512K (new)

109.95

Commodore 1764 RAM Expansion 256K (refurbished)

94.95

Commodore 1581 Disk Drive 3.5" (new)

129.95

Commodore 1581 Disk Drive 3.5" (refurbished)

109.95

Commodore 1660 Modem 300 Baud (new)

19.95

Commodore 1670 Modem 1200 Baud (new)

49.95

Supra 2400 Baud Modem

119.95

Commodore 1702 Monitor (refurbished)

89.95

Commodore 1902 Monitor (refurbished)

129.95

64 & 64C Replacement Power Supply

29.95

64 & 64C Heavy Duty Replacement Power Supply

42.95

Xetec Jr. Graphics Printer Interface

36.95

Peak Modem Interface for Supra 2400 Modem

29.95

Winner M3 2-Button Mouse

35.95

All new products include Commodore's full 90 day warranty. Refurbished
products are in like-new shape and in their original packaging. They have a
30 day warranty. Please call quickly as supplies are limited and on a first
come first serve basis. We are an authorized Commodore Service Center
repairing Commodore and Amiga products both in and out of warranty. Please
contact us at the service number below for additional information and
pricing.

Software Hut, Inc.
2534 S. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19145

Order Toll Free 1-800-848-0079
For Information 1-215-462-2268
For Repairs 1-215-462-0210

Dealer Inquiries Invited.

We ship via UPS. We accept for payment: Visa, MasterCard and Discover
credit cards. We also ship COD, accepting Cash, Certified Check or Money
Order. Shipping charges are $5.00 for the first item, and $2.00 for
additional items. For monitors and compuers, please add an addiional $3.00.
COD orders add an additional $4.00.

November Special MCUC Custom Notebooks $5.00 ea.

Comes with specially printed inserts for the sleeves on the outside of the
notebooks. The insert for the back of the notebook features commonly used
commands for easy reference.

Put your Members Packet, to be released this month, in a notebook with the
disks. Keep everything in one handy place.

Data Tech Services Inc.
6870 Hillshire, Suite 19, 20 & 21
Memphis TN 38133
901-385-7987
Data Tech offers full service
repair on not only COMMODORE
but all types of computers &
peripherals (except Macs).
We are dealers for Star Printers,
Creative Micro Designs and other
name brand merchandise. Come
see us at our newly expanded
facilities.